Craniosacral Balancing
I was lucky enough to have many Cranio' sessions, such a divine experience. Craniosacral is such a pleasure, a great intro to meditation, to falling into silence. The Byron area is home to Craniosacral Australia and there are often trainings which occur locally, hence the popularity amongst practitioners.
Session 1
The practitioner and I sat for a bit before the session, me trying to remember any and all traumas I have experienced in the past, either physically or emotionally. Cranio deals with the craniosacral rhythm, the ‘pulse’ of life in the spinal system, which relates to subtle layers of being and can be easily affected by stress or other things that create any kind of disturbance in the system.
Once I lay on the table she placed her hands, firstly on my head, feeling for any movement in the bones that make up the skull, and then my feet and hips. This was more diagnostic, as she informed me of any lack of freedom of movement, especially in my skull. She spoke to me about what she had felt, and enquired whether I had forgotten to mention some trauma to her as her hands told her more than I had. Sure enough, I had forgotten some things, mostly far away in time. She then outlined what she would be doing, and that all I had to do was relax!
For those who have never experienced a cranio session, it is very quiet, with not much movement, almost like meditation being done to you! Lots of hands-on, just resting yet present in a positive sense. By being quiet as she held various places, I was able to tune in and allow the openness, an easy flow to return to my bodymind. As I write this it strikes me how unique cranio is in this sense, and why people just love it as a modality, and how addictive it is for some.
She placed her hands on my head, my feet, and around my sacrum for extended periods, and I seemed to fall into very deep spaces while peculiar images were running in my mind. I have recently stopped smoking (again) so there seemed to be a lot of detox hallucinations happening. It is like every part of the body has a story to tell, and sometimes they all speak at once but in a language of their own. The practitioner said it was mostly right brain stuff, pictures rather than words that refer to more subconscious releases that Cranio elicits.
Session 2
Cranio’ is such a relaxing bodywork, and I was looking forward to the session when I arrived, wondering what was going to happen.
After the obligatory discussion of my various physical ailments it was onto the table I went.
The practitioner first held my feet, and immediately I was aware of the dance of energy between her hands, and gradually I felt that whatever tension I was feeling in my body just drain out.
I have had a knee problem for the past 6 months, with diagnoses ranging from arthritis to damaged cartilage, and at various times the practitioner just held it, guiding my attention there. I find it amazing with cranio that when such a hot spot is held, other, recognisable twinges, sensations, elsewhere appear, as tho the current discomfort, ‘story’, is merely a kind of lightning rod for the body’s discomfort. I think that the psyche doesn’t like to feel pain, so it protects itself, but the pain, feeling, has to be experienced somewhere, and finds some way of making itself known.
A Cranio practitioner tunes into the pulse of the ‘sacral pump’, which is very subtle, felt through tuning into the still point. She moved her hands here and there, under the sacrum, various points along my spine, with my inner experience radically different in each position. I was aware of the moments when I was lying there as pure presence, which were utterly blissful, full of light, literally bursting, other times somewhat disconnected, busy with my thoughts, the various mental or emotional abstractions or issues that were released in the body/mind.
A couple of weeks ago I fell on my ass down some stairs, so there was some residual shock in my lower spine, meaning that there was some numbness, something ‘held’, with lots of unrelated thinking as my psyche gingerly allowed the energy to move again.
Lying there receiving and being present with the practitioner’s hands, which became quite hot as the session progressed, was a matter of falling through layers of relaxation, letting go of this or that concept/tension, so by the time she let me know it was over, after about 1 1/2 hours, my body was very soft and relaxed, very present and quiet.
Multiple Hands-on Craniosacral
I have actually wanted to experience a multiple hands Craniosacral session for ages, so was really looking forward to this session
I lay on the table and they got down to work. Not a lot happens in a pure Cranio session, with the woman holding one hand under my sacrum, the other lightly resting on my belly while the man worked on the upper part, either around my neck where he fiddled around lots, and on my face and head.
I just found myself sinking in and further in, and then in some more. In a way Cranio is like having meditation done to you, as I just fell into such a gorgeous still space, no thought even of what I was going to write. At different times they would speak, like water flowing over rocks, soothing, with subtle changes in position the effect of which I couldn’t always identify, only I became quieter and quieter.
After what seemed like ages the man informed me that he and the woman would exchange positions for the last past of the session, and that was different, and I dropped further in. After some time the session was over, and I remained on the table. After what seemed like ages it occurred to me that there was a world that required my presence and I got up. Iwas so blissed that I forgot … no that isn’t true either, I was simply there with no movement to do be or go anywhere. I came downstairs, had some water, and then floated off into the day.
Craniosacral is a lot about connecting with the still point inside, and that was where I had been for the 2 hours I was on the table. Just still, only occasional movement in the mind, none in the body.
Written by Mark O'Brien for the "Session of the Month', Here & Now magazine 1999-2005
Dynamic Craniosacral Therapy
I recently had a session in this and was completely blown away. The practitioner held her hands on my head, then under my sacrum, and then just held my feet, for about an hour in total. I got off table with a softer and looser pelvis than I have had for years, pain in my knee from arthritis and cartilage damage was majorly minimised with no more associated limping (even playing tennis the following day my knee was fine, with none of the usual odd feel of discomfort).
I was balanced and loose. Wonderful. Why this works on muscles and joints, and torn cartilage, I (and allopathic medicine) have no real idea, but it does.
Playing tennis, and just walking, I have such a new sense of peace and rhythym in my body, very happy.
Written by Mark O'Brien 2010
View all people that practice: Craniosacral Balancing